More “zero tolerance” injustice, this time from
the Dearborn Heights school district in Detroit, Michigan. Atiya
Haynes, an honors students and college-bound 17-year-old, was
emerging from the bathroom at a high school football game when
school officials decided to search her. (It’s not clear why this
was done, but I take it that such searches are merely routine at
school events—in other words, there was no specific suspicion that
Haynes had done something wrong.)
Officials found a pocketknife in Haynes’ purse. She told them
she had forgotten that she was carrying the knife, which was a gift
from her grandfather. In a sane world, it would be completely
reasonable for her to carry a pocketknife for protection; she biked
long distances across southwest Detroit to get to her job last
summer, for instance.
But because it is illegal to carry any weapon on school grounds
for any reason—even with good reason, or by accident—she was
promptly expelled. The Board of Education eventually relented, but
only slightly: Haynes is still suspended for the rest of the year,
but will be able to take online classes and graduate. That’s hardly
an improvement, given that Haynes is actively involved in
extracurricular activities at her school.
Understandably, Haynes was not satisfied with the final verdict,
according to
The Detroit News:
“I’m disgusted,” she said. “I can’t believe that … no empathy.
Put your child in this situation. Every time you forget
your keys to your house, think of me. Think of this honest mistake.
I’m a human being. I’m 17 years old. It’s disgusting that you can
sleep at night knowing that you can potentially ruin somebody’s
life.”“Every discipline issue that comes to us as a school board is a
blow to a student,” said. Tim Thieken, District 7 superintendent.
“I think that she presented her case tonight but at the same time,
as a school board, we are upheld by the state of Michigan to uphold
the laws of the state of Michigan.”
Haynes is the latest in a
long
line
of
kids whose bright futures were put on hold—if not ruined—by
absurd, vindictive “zero tolerance” policies. And she certainly
won’t be the last.
Laws that criminalize harmless accidents and self-protection are
not worth upholding.
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